Companies of a lesser God?

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Here’s how CSR initiatives help create stronger & more sustainable companies?

Taiba is an eight year old girl from Delhi and apart from being born in a deprived family, she was born with cataract in her eyes. She could not walk alone, recognise her school books and was left to suffer a life of perennial darkness. Ishratra, her mother, was also totally helpless, especially when the local public school teacher said that Taiba should go to the blind school, instead of a general public school. “I didn’t know what to say, for as she was not totally blind, the blind school won’t accept her admission. Then I came to the camp organised by Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital (SCEH) and they said they will bear the cost of the operation of my daughter,” reminisces Ishratra. SCEH indeed took the initiative and the operation was funded by McDonald’s. Now Taiba can walk alone and holding a McDonald’s balloon, told this magazine that “I want to become a doctor.” But when asked whether she know what’s written on the balloon, she said no. Taiba might not know about Ronaldo or Big Mac, nor does Ishratra, but every year the quick service restaurant donates Rs.5 lakhs to SCEH. “They also sponsor and manage other buildings like our children ward and promote eye awareness programmes,” adds Arun K. Arora, CEO of SCEH.

Although she claims to be 10 years old, but the curse of hunger and poverty makes her look years older than her age. She can’t afford two meals a day and even thinking about a woollen garment in winter is a luxury for her. But last year Kanta managed to get a woollen sweater and shawl as she was part of the Godrej Ezee ‘Rahaat – Ek Abhyaan’ campaign. And this year too she has come to the Rotary International Club, Chanakyapuri, to collect woollen garments for her brother. “Winters are warmer now, as I have got rid of my old, torn shawl and saab (the coordinating manager) has given me a new, red shawl. I’m here to get another one for my brother,” says Kanta. The girl may be homeless, making a bedroom under any flyover of the capital, but she thanks Godrej for taking the initiative to distribute old woollen clothing to several children of a lesser God.

Pratapgarh, an otherwise non-descript small town in Chittorgarh district is in the midst of rapid transformation. Owing to some landmark initiatives by ITC in rainwater drainage and harvesting, the desert fields of Pratapgarh are producing wheat for the first time. “Nobody could have ever though that Rajasthan can produce wheat also. Without disturbing the ecological harmony, rainwater harvesting has increased the economic condition of these villages and at the same time the villagers will know that ITC is doing good for them,” so said B. K. Sharma, Team Leader of Foundation for Ecological Security, an NGO that’s working with ITC in these districts.

The above may be different incidents happening in different corners of the country, but these are not a part of a suddenly developed penchants by India Inc. It is certainly heartening, how quite a few Indian corporates are playing their part in social initiatives. On the plank of social ethics and morality, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an initiative being taken by almost all the blue eyed boys of India Inc.


Explains Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group of Companies, “We as a corporation believe that when our entire business is based on society, we can’t ignore our responsibility to the society. If we are building customers, then it becomes crucial to return to the society by taking care of the unprivileged.” A noble cause indeed and it’s not only Adi Godrej, who is taking societal responsibilities seriously. Sunil Mittal, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and others of their ilk, even MNCs in India are making sure that they contribute to the society. Vikram Bakshi, MD, McDonald’s India (North & East Region) points out, “We believe in the importance of giving back to the community that has given us so much. We continue to be committed to being a conscientious corporate citizen through our CSR programmes.” This QSR, from the country of Uncle Sam, has funded enormous projects like SCEH, SOS Children’s Villages and over 390 economically and visually challenged children have benefited from vision correction thanks to Big Mac’s efforts in India.

Of course, minting moolah for themselves and their shareholders will always remain their priority number one, but corporates are increasingly evincing an interest in taking care of society and the country. And here’s the million dollar question. Do such initiatives help them to promote their brand? Or does it help give a ‘good’ touch to their organisation in the eyes of the masses? “CSR does not promote a brand and its effect can never be visible in the profit & loss account of a company. Neither does it help when a company is caught for unfair practices, But it does help them re-emerge from their lost position,” explains Sumeet Budhraja, Analyst, Edelweiss Securities. No wonder, the cola behemoths that have been battered by criticism for damaging the ground water and ecosystem in India, are now taking increased interest in protecting the environment. PepsiCo has a waste management programme and Coca Cola has several water preservation projects. Coca Cola’s partnership with Central Groundwater Authority (CGWA) has worked well in preserving water levels in villages near Jaipur.

Explains, Venkatesh Kini, Vice President – Marketing, Coca Cola India, “We have taken several such initiatives earlier also and will be doing it in future too. But we never claim that we have done great CSR, instead we want to convey to people that we care for the society and that has been a part of our corporate campaign also. If you’re doing business in a country, you can’t ignore the people and environment of that country.”

As Kini points out, CSR plays a role in overall corporate objectives, as a better society means greater future market potential. After all, experts say that the larger the gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, the greater are the chances for an unsustainable economy and therefore business environment. Globally, there’s growing acceptance of CSR initiatives in helping create admired brands. The trend has caught on in India also, much to the benefit of the not-so-shining, ‘other India’.

Edit bureau: Angshuman Paul

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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